


My fate cries out

by the_law_of_progress



Category: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, F/M, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, this is a 'why fight when we can all have sex' AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:54:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23266540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_law_of_progress/pseuds/the_law_of_progress
Summary: To keep close to Thaniel, Mori agrees to work with Grace Steepleton on her ether experiments.  This leads to some unforeseen outcomes, that may turn out for the better.
Relationships: Grace Carrow/Keita Mori/Thaniel Steepleton, Grace Carrow/Thaniel Steepleton, Keita Mori/Thaniel Steepleton
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	My fate cries out

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this is set in a thirty-seventh reality where Grace and Thaniel marry and live together, and Mori is a frequent house guest who helps Grace with her experiments, initially because he wants to stay close to Thaniel, but then because he genuinely enjoys the experiments.
> 
> Title take from Act I, Scene IV of Hamlet.
> 
> This is my first time posting anything this explicit, please let me know what you think!!

They lost track of time after the fourth throw but lost none of the fun. After two months of failure, Mori had been pleasantly surprised to see some success. The changes that Carrow had implemented- aided by chance- had allowed for them both to be surprised by the exciting results.

It was only when Thaniel called them to dinner, neither of them having heard him come home, that they both sheepishly left the confines of the basement to venture up the dining room to enjoy good food and good company. 

“I’ve never seen you both look so excited,” Thaniel said, smiling as he set down a steaming dish. 

Carrow eyes lit up, “It’s absolutely astounding the progress that we’re making.” She smiled warmly at Mori, her eyes dancing in the candlelight as she ladled herself out a portion of soup. “Maybe we’ll be able to successfully bake Mori a surprise pie.”

Mori laughed. “Your pies are horrible things, Carrow. Best leave that to Steepleton.”

Across the table, spooning up a helping of vegetables, Thaniel was smiling brightly. To be able to see him so happy made Mori’s chest flutter. 

That flutter feeling didn’t leave as they finished dinner and, leaving Thaniel to his nightly practice at the piano, he and Carrow departed for the basements and a few more hours of experimenting.

Their success buoyed them into working longer than they should, the setting sun having long given way to full dark, leaving a crisp summer breeze as the only thing coming through the little windows in the basement. Mori didn’t notice until Thaniel came down to close them, and to offer him the spare room for the night.

“You know, since I’ve spent so many nights in your spare room, I thought it fitting that you should be able to use ours.” He turned to Carrow, “Grace helped me set up the room, I’m horrible at interior design.”

Mori read between the lines: Carrow had agreed to let him stay. The fluttery feeling in his chest returned. They bid each other goodnight. 

\--

It was a little more than half an hour after Mori finished writing the future of the morning, and he had rather let time get away from him. Rather than setting his notebook down- as he had intended- he had caught a glimpse of a fairy from outside his window, looking out into the garden and he had lost track of time watching it. The little random gears bounce them in the garden, looking fireflies in the evening. 

They had been part of his wedding present to the new Mrs. Steepleton, a set of clockwork garden fairies that would help tend the herb garden; an herb garden that she would need for a set of experiments she would likely start sometime next year when her pregnant belly meant she had to move away from volatile experiments for a little while. 

(Although, scare two days from childbed, Mori foresaw an exhausted Carrow triumphantly mixing chemicals again. The reaction would set itself ablaze, along with a bit of her dress. A tired Thaniel, carefully cradling a sleeping baby Steepleton- his _godchild_ -, would insist that Carrow never wear dresses in the lab. It would be likely that his subsequent reaction to her wearing pants whilst setting things on fire will lead to baby Steepleton number two. Mori tried not to look too closely at this future, where a pants wearing Carrow straddles Thaniel on her workbench, Thaniel’s checks flushed red with embarrassment and arousal.)

Speaking of embarrassment (and arousal) Mori tries to ignore the sounds coming from the room next to his. They are the sounds of the happily married couple who has begun to fall in love. He hears soft whispers, and thinks he hears his name from Thaniel’s soft northern voice- likely telling Carrow they must be quiet, or they will wake him. Thaniel knows how lightly he sleeps.

A rustling of sheets, then a woman’s moan. Oh dear. 

Another moan, and Mori, alone in the dark of his own room, feels his face go hot. He hears Carrow’s voice, “Oh God, _Thaniel-_ “ and then “Yes, yes there, oh _right_ there-“ before he realises he doesn’t hear Thaniel. 

Before long, he hears Carrow shout, overcome at last. Then comes a moment of silence, as Carrow catches her breath. There is some heavy kissing, before he hears Thaniel say, breathlessly, “please… please may I?” And he hears Carrow laugh in response. “Yes, yes all right, you may.” More sheets rustle and Thaniel groans in time with Carrow. Mori, groans too, inexplicably hard himself. Well, perhaps not inexplicably.

The sounds of the couple interjoined, together, make Mori want to cry. Though he had let Thaniel go, he still finds himself jealous of Carrow; jealous that she is the one who gets to pull these sounds out of him, every night.

As the couple move in sync, Mori throws caution to the wind and, rucking up his nightshirt, takes himself in hand. He listens shamelessly to their moans. Surprisingly, it’s not just Thaniel’s soft, wordless groans of pleasure that move him, but also Carrow’s steady stream of affirmations. 

Mori can only imagine what a talkative lover makes sex look like for Thaniel. He wonders what colours he sees, what a painting of the moment would look like. He wonders what a painting of Grace and Thaniel and Keita, together, would look like, how the colours would intertwine.

A glimpse of probability catches and for just a moment, Mori sees that painting- the fire-reds and blazing-oranges of Grace’s words with the turquoise grey-greens of Thaniel’s moans and the golden accents of Keita’s groans- and his vision whites out as he comes with a shout.

He comes back to himself a moment later, with sticky sheets and a lingering feeling of embarrassment. With a sigh, he wipes his hand on the soiled sheets and resigns himself to lying in the sticky bed he made when he realises that the Steepleton’s bedroom has also gone silent.

Mori realises in the haze of his orgasm that he hadn’t heard the couple reach their peaks. He flushes as he realises how loud he had been. Through the walls come the sound of soft, rushed voices. He can understand nothing but can feel their intentions. Oh no. 

He sits in the dark, staring blankly at the wall, as the possible futures line up and play out in his mind’s eye. He could leave the door close and not answer the knock that will come in half a minute’s time. Then they will all wake up the next morning, not meeting anyone else’s eyes, and will never speak of this night again. _Or…_

Or. Or he could answer the door and let Carrow in. They could talk about how she has wanted to kiss him every day for three months. He had been so excited to see that the future could turn out better than what he had foreseen for once; suddenly helping Carrow wasn’t just something to do so he could see Thaniel more often.

He saw the conversation. It would be awkward and stilted. She would confess that she had suspected Thaniel of sharing her feelings for Mori. Furthermore, she would confess that she suspected that Mori harboured feelings for them, too. And she wouldn’t be wrong.

He opens the door.

**Author's Note:**

> The hardest part of writing this chapter was the hour I spent looking up what Victorians in the mid 1880s would have eaten for dinner.


End file.
